Industrial park yet to take off
Four months after its launch, there is inactivity at Magwero Industrial Park under Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Lilongwe due to outstanding preliminary works, including its promotion.
The project was launched on June 1 and since then, there has no activity on the site between Kanengo and Kamuzu International Airport (KIA).
Ministry of Trade and Industry and Export Development Fund (EDF), two crucial government agencies involved in the project, say some preliminary works are yet to be concluded to enable the project to take off.
Ministry of Trade and Industry Principal Secretary Christina Zakeyu said in an interviewon Tuesday that much of the work ahead of the construction of the facilities at the park are almost through.
She said: “In few months, you will see a lot of construction works along the airport road.
“We have been doing a lot of work on the background to prepare for the project and we have been working with a consultant to do the designs and they are almost complete.”
The project is being promoted by Egypt-based African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), which also supported feasibility study financing and is a joint venture between an Asian company well known to have developed industrial parks, Arise and EDF.
EDF managing director Fredrick Chanza said in an interview on Tuesday that Arise is currently marketing of the project to investors around the world to bring in more investment on the park.
He said: “We have been doing technical studies and marketing.
“Arise is doing the needful. I must say the project is big in scale and it has a lot of economic impact and soon it will start.”
The Magwero Industrial Park is projected to generate about $600 million (about K1 trillion) in annual exports from manufactured products with processing plants that include agricultural value-addition, mineral refining, construction materials, manufacturing and pharmaceutical production.
The project is expected to create about 15 000 jobs.
The project, being developed under the SEZ legal framework with tax breaks and other incentives, is expected to attract $300 million (about K525 billion) in direct investments.
“The project will turn Malawi from an agrarian economy to the one that manufactures and exports products and that will help to transform the economy,” said Benedict Oramah, Afreximbank chief executive officer during the launch.
Magwero Industrial Park is expected to be the country’s manufacturing hub, producing agriculture- based products in the light industries.
For the Magwero Industrial Park, raw materials could be one of the major bottlenecks, but that will be a responsibility of Arise, a government partner in the project, according to the project concept note.
Through a special purpose vehicle, Arise and EDF established Magwero Industrial Park Limited.
Arise will provide logistical services to aggregate raw materials to supply to the manufacturers.
Arise, which has partnered Malawi Stock Exchange-listed Nico Holdings plc, is drawing from experiences of managing project of similar nature in Benin, Togo, Chad, Nigeria, among others.
Arise will also ensure the park is connected to basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity, water to service the manufacturers which will also enjoy tax, exchange rate and trade restriction exemptions as provided in the SEZ law.
Magwero and Matindi Industrial Park in Blantyre will be jointly financed by EDF and Afreximbank.
The Malawi Govoernment is also looking for other potential investors for other industrial parks at Chigumula in Blantyre and Dunduzu in Mzuzu.
Government is developing the parks to drive industrialisation and stimulate the country’s economic growth.
